Group works to revive Penrose Park Velodrome

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is covering the effort by a group of supporters to find funding to repair and improve the Penrose Park Velodrome in North St. Louis, from the recently passed parks funding in the Arch tax:

Penrose Park Velodrome by Rick Weinstine

Velodromes are rare birds. This is the only one in Missouri. The entire country has fewer than 30. The Penrose Park Velodrome is a hidden treasure in an odd location, tucked between Interstate 70 and railroad tracks in north St. Louis, barely visible from nearby roads and hardly known even in the surrounding neighborhood.

A weekly race series begins its summer run today at the velodrome. But the track is worn and slow. A push is on to find hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild the oval. That’s why Brinker, now a bike store owner in Columbia, Mo., recently returned to his old training ground. He and other cyclists want to convince people who may have never heard of the Penrose Park Velodrome that it is worth saving.

All it takes is an evening at the track, they say.

An effort in 2005 cleared brush and re-sealed the velodrome, bringing it from its previous unusable condition to its current condition--usable but with some serious problems.  If the velodrome were repaired to top condition it could be much bigger draw and a bigger asset to the metro area.

Penrose Park has weekly races and events--find out more at the Penrose Park Velodrome web page.

Photo credit: Penrose Park Velodrome, Rick Weinstein